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Boots Hearingcare UK: Repair or replacement under warranty

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Under warranty via Boots my right ear aid went for replacement to Phonak. It’s a model no longer on the market, What came back was a left ear aid (with no anchor/sports lock thingy attached). The local Boots audiologist couldn’t program it on her desktop because it already had the same serial number for the left I’d kept ! It seems to me that Phnak simply junked my faulty right ear aid and gave me a replacement but for the wrong ear - this would seem to be supported by there being no lock attached. A hearing charity worker told me that with appliances no longer on the market firms keep old stocks as replacements rather than ditch them. What do you think ?

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Boots sometimes use other cheaper hearing aid repair providers rather than the proper suppliers who would have the correct parts. May be worth contacting the hearing aid maker ie Phonak for advice.

In no defence of Boots: but that’s utter rubbish.

Boots Hearing are 50% owned by Sonova. They would never put something to an outside repairer, especially not for Sonova product that they get for peanuts.

It’s likely to be a replacement, which is fine. It’s likely to be a left because all of some manufacturers default to one side with new instruments, and the fact that the R/L correction wasn’t picked up is just a typo/misread on the incoming product. Your Audiologist should have just returned it and had another one sent with the correct serial number.

The only comment here is that the weakness of the Sonova system (which allows easier housekeeping for them and possibly the customer/insurer) in terms of warranty length etc, is that swapping serial numbers on hearing aids isn’t a perfect process when there’s humans doing it.

Just speaking from experience. I had some Widex repaired through Boots several times and they never sounded right. I then found out it was being repaired by Starkey. This happened again some time after, I twigged when it didn’t sound right and the finish was poor. I sent it back to Widex and it was back to great again. It’s logical that high street sellers will try and reduce costs where possible, that’s why I favour independents.

Sorry: I assumed you were referring to the Phonak product that the original poster stated.

Non-Sonova product is likely to be a different issue - though we’ve used Starkey/HARS for years for all manner of out of warranty product without issue.

In reply to @Um_bongo

I’d better supply more detail ! My Phonak was in fact returned by Boots to Pnonak’s techies because it’s under warranty, I guess. They told me so and confirmed it with Phonak, they said. I didn’t mind getting a replacement instead of a repair but indeed Phonak sent a left ear instead of a right. My audiologist did pick it up - she couldn’t program it into her computer because my left ear was already there and the system wouldn’t accept an identical product. She offered straight away to return it to Phonak - another 10 days on top of the 10 I’d already waited. I said no because the new aid works OK now that she’s programmed it manually. Why can’t Phonak send out a right ear now to my audio ? She could program and fit it after I’d returned the unwanted one to her for sending back to Phonak. I’m thinking of future regular checks.

@maggieandjimpepin said:

Why can’t Phonak send out a right ear now to my audio?

Simple answer: Accountants.

They’ll only execute a swapover of product upon receipt of the original. Looking from the outside it should be possible to do this without further inconvenience to you, but in reality, they will probably want it back first.

Thanks for your advice - it makes sense if you know about the button-down mind of an accountant. I expect they’ve had it on tablets of stone from Mount Sinai with the added warning that the World will end if they complete the accounting process when they get the wrong product back AFTER issuing the correct one (to Boots, not me directly, remember). It’s OK to screw the customer instead for 10 days just to soothe their delicate nerves. Should I ask for compensation for the inconvenience and delay of doing it their way ?

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